WHO condemns Israeli attack on Kamal Adwan Hosp., north abandoned
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The WHO condemned the Israeli occupation's raid on Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, which left the facility inoperable and worsened Gaza's healthcare crisis.
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Palestinian medics treat the wounded using torchlights after running out of power at the Indonesian hospital in Beit Lahiya during Israeli bombardment of the northern Gaza Strip, November 19, 2023. (AP)
The World Health Organization stated on Saturday that the Kamal Adwan Hospital is now vacant after an Israeli military attack rendered it out of service, leaving northern Gaza without its last major health facility.
The WHO expressed its outrage over Friday’s assault, condemning how "hospitals have once again become battlegrounds."
In its statement, the WHO emphasized that "the systematic dismantling of the health system and a siege for over 80 days on north Gaza puts the lives of the 75,000 Palestinians remaining in the area at risk," adding that "Kamal Adwan is now empty."
On Friday, the remaining 15 critical patients, along with 50 caregivers and 20 health workers, were transferred to the Indonesian Hospital, which the WHO described as a "destroyed and non-functional" facility.
The WHO also highlighted that relocating and treating these patients under such dire conditions poses significant risks to their survival. The statement stressed, "WHO is deeply concerned for their wellbeing, as well as for the Kamal Adwan Hospital director."
Damaged facilities and urgent WHO mission
Initial assessments by the WHO indicated that several areas of the hospital, including the laboratory, surgical unit, engineering and maintenance department, operations theatre, and medical store, sustained severe damage during the raid. Earlier on Friday, 12 patients were reported to have been evacuated to the Indonesian Hospital.
Reports also emerged of individuals being stripped and forced to walk toward southern Gaza.
"An urgent WHO mission to Indonesian Hospital is being planned for tomorrow to assess the situation at the facility, provide basic medical supplies, food and water, and safely move critical patients to Gaza City for continued care."
The WHO noted that the raid on Kamal Adwan Hospital followed a period of escalating restrictions and repeated attacks. From early October to December, only 10 out of 21 WHO missions to the hospital were partially successful, while the deployment of international emergency medical teams had been "repeatedly denied."
The UN health agency confirmed at least 50 attacks on healthcare facilities in or near the hospital since October, although it refrains from assigning blame for these attacks.
"With Kamal Adwan and Indonesian hospitals entirely out of service, and Al-Awda Hospital barely able to function due to severe damage from recent airstrikes, the healthcare lifeline for those in north Gaza is reaching a breaking point," the WHO stated.
It further noted that "WHO and partners' efforts to sustain the hospitals' operations have been undone."
The WHO called for urgent measures to "ensure that hospitals in north Gaza can be supported to become functional again."
The organization stressed that health facilities, workers, and patients "must be actively protected and never be attacked, nor used for military purposes," but these calls "remain unheard."
Read more: IOF burn Kamal Adwan hospital after forcibly removing staff, patients
